Monticello Gardens of President Thomas Jefferson and Mulberry Row

So here we are now in Virginia and after checking out the weather we made our plans.
There would be rain in the afternoon and next day a tornado...
So we left early, after breakfast for Monticello, home and plantation of the 3rd President of the United States; Thomas Jefferson.
The one that wrote the Declaration of Independence... with tremendous Dutch influence (see link at the bottom of post).

Around 10:00 we were at Monticello and went with their bus to the place where the garden tour would start.
Here husband Pieter is in front of the Littleleaf Linden.

As a little girl, I went with my Dad, seated at the front of his bike, to Ommel, The Netherlands, a pilgrimage site of Our Lady of Refuge for Comfort in every need. There was a statue under a huge Linden tree.
 Seated on Dad's bike, I managed to touch with my hands those mature fruits!
Childhood memories...

This is also the tree from which they make the Linden Flower Tea and Linden Honey as we tasted in Eastern Europe in May: Day 6, Panoramic Belgrade, Serbia where I had Linden Honey in my tea.

This was the house but we both did not tour the inside as we come from the Old World and have seen enough of that architecture over there.
Thomas Jefferson did bring those ideas from Europe.

From the deck of his house, overlooking a vast area since it is built on a little mountain.

Pieter standing next to a huge potplant that obviously was thriving well, being partly indoors.
Interesting windows that could be totally pushed upwards.

Behind Pieter you still see where the potplant was, just behind his right arm inside the open space.

That's me standing at the top of those stairs...

WILLOW OAK or Quercus phellos

It's diameter was impressive!

Still the same tree, trying to capture it completely.

Our Garden & Grounds Guide showed us this laminated copy of Thomas Jefferson's 1766 Garden Diary - nice handwriting!

Of course we were visiting rather late in season, so the garden sure was not at its peak!
Here you see a variety of Okra, a huge one.
You also see that the sky is highly pregnant with rain...

There was an entire arbor where the Purple Hyacinth Bean was climbing up on both sides and overhead. A favorite of Thomas Jefferson.

A vineyard...
What an over view from there!

Vegetable garden and to the right you see a one-room slave house along Mulberry Row...

Yes, Thomas Jefferson maintained his 5,000 acres or 2,023 hectare by keeping some 400 slaves...
They lived in the tiny, one-room houses!

We did tour the smokehouse... Interesting and even I as a young girl remember smoked meats.

This is exactly what we also saw at: Netherlands Open Air Museum with Mom & Dad and American Colleague's Wife as shown in pictures taken there.

Aerial View: The Monticello Mountaintop just click and click through again for seeing how VAST this really is.

Thomas Jefferson's Daily Ride short video showing the vast property on the little mountain, just click and click through again.
Also interesting to listen to this documentary about Jefferson's 'concubine', the half-sister of his deceased wife Martha. At that time the slave owner often used his female slaves as personal property. His wife Martha's father, had done so and there were several half-sisters/brothers from a mulatto slave woman... Jefferson fathered 6 children with Sally Hemings. We both have mixed feelings about his part in history... Only in 1998 it has been proven by DNA that Jefferson was the father and sadly he never acknowledged those six children!
Sally Hemings (Documentary) click
We enjoyed some coffee and cookies (Pieter) at the Gift Shop and found some chocolate too.
In all, a great place to visit.
There also is a restaurant that serves fresh produce from the garden!

With our ticket we could have started the tour of the Home by 12:00 PM, but we left with their shuttle to the parking and went for lunch.

It was only a 25 min. drive back and forth to the Hyatt Place Hotel for us.
At 14:00 it was 17 ºC or 62 ºF

We got back to our Hotel around 14:00 after going to Whole Foods Market where we ate some lunch and did bring some salad home for next day with yoghurt and fruits.
Due to a TORNADO WATCH we decided to stay in for that day on October 31 and catch up on our reading instead...

On October 31, it would be a very wet day and 19ºC or 66ºF

The weather would be a LOT cooler from 26ºC (78.8ºF) to only 15ºC (59ºF) for November 1.

Perfect for our plan... stay tuned! 

Related link:
Mabry Mill Restaurant and Blue Ridge Parkway | previous post by me
Finally Taking my NONAGENARIAN up the Blue Ridge Parkway | previous post by me
Our 2nd Cabin Stay at The Hill on Cherokee Lake | previous post by me

SO Proud of my NONAGENARIAN | previous post by me
{1903 Ladies Home Journal by Edward Bok - The Mother of America & Dutch American Heritage Day} | previous post by me

Mabry Mill Restaurant and Blue Ridge Parkway

We did enjoy a restful night at the Hyatt Place in Roanoke, Virginia!

That was much needed after my long day behind the steering wheel on the Blue Ridge Parkway with several stops along the way.

On October 29, again we started out with lovely weather; feeling so grateful for it!

A happy Pieter here at Mabry Mill, the Blue Ridge Parkway's MOST photographed spot...

Love the reflection in the water.

There were demonstrations of milling and you could have spent the entire afternoon there.

Meadows of Dan, Virginia is the location and you can view here RURAL LIFE IN APPALACHIA

Mabry Mill got built about 1910 by Edwin B. Mabry...

Glad the National Park Service restored it in 1945 and made it now into the most photographed feature on the Blue Ridge Parkway!

Lizzie and Ed Mabry at the time of their wedding in 1891

Mabry Mill before it was restored and landscaped

Yep, the driver also leaned on the wooden fence for a picture...

There was a rather long wait at the restaurant but the gift shop solved that problem.

Did buy some fresh ground corn meal and other items as a gift and for ourselves.

We both opted for the Roast Turkey Platter

Herb and butter basted turkey breast, slow roasted and served with our own cranberry relish, cornbread dressing and your choice of one side.

That was DELICIOUS and low sodium too!

Both of us opted for the Glazed Carrots as a Side

They added very creamy corn bread too, seen top left.

Well fed, we continued driving the Blue Ridge Parkway...

This was George Washington National Forest, Buchanan, Virginia and you see some fog beginning to form.

Yep, the fog was building up here at Blue Ridge Parkway, George Washington National Forest, Bedford Virginia

We did make a stop there for some necessities and a break... using Peaks of Otter Lodge.

Peak of Otter Pond is shown in the photo.

Aerial View of Peaks of Otter Lodge... click it and click through.
This is obviously taken in the summer as it is all green.

Believe me, the entire Blue Ridge Parkway gives you stunning views!

That is without fog...

Well, I already had made up my mind for abandoning the Blue Ridge Parkway soon enough, due to the upcoming fog!

Seen is George Washington National Forest, Bedford, Virginia

George Washington National Forest, Bedford, Virginia

George Washington National Forest, James River, Big Island, Virginia

James River and bottom you see Big Island...

James River is about where I left the Blue Ridge Parkway and you can see the part above that, what we did not cover. 
In Virginia, the elevation is by far not like in North Caroline.
We got to see some deer today, not as much as yesterday though!

A short Relive video of my journey on October 29

This was a far more relaxed day and I'm glad I left the Blue Ridge Parkway when the fog set in... There is no guard rail and the road is rather narrow so why ask for trouble?
We enjoyed this second day in a beautiful surrounding.
Off we went to our Hyatt Place in Charlottesville, Virginia

Stay tuned for more!

Thanks for your visit and comment.

Related link:
Blue Ridge Parkway | America's Favorite Drive a 57 second video
Finally Taking my NONAGENARIAN up the Blue Ridge Parkway | previous post by me

Our 2nd Cabin Stay at The Hill on Cherokee Lake | previous post by me

SO Proud of my NONAGENARIAN | previous post by me

Finally Taking my NONAGENARIAN up the Blue Ridge Parkway

Guess, over the years we've come across the Blue Ridge Parkway at least some 6 times.

When our foster-daughter Anita was staying with us, we tried to drive a segment of it and I ended up driving with my head sticking out of the window due to heavy fog so we left it first opportunity.

We did drive a segment again with my sister Diny and her significant other and then the times we went back and forth to Pennsylvania to move, for visits back to Georgia and visits back to our Jewish friends in Delaware.

On October 28, we'd planned to depart early after breakfast, from our Log Cabin in Tennessee.
BUT again, it was way too foggy for driving through the mountains!
So here we are, after all those years, again waiting till the sun came to chase away the dense fog.
Around noon time we'd reached the beginning of BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY
Sunshine as you can see!

This was around 12:38 and look at that blue sky - we got SO lucky and the fall colors were spectacular.
View Haw Creek Valley at an elevation of 2100 feet (640 m) and from where we stood it was 2720 feet (829 m) at MP 380 (MP = Mile Post)

Taken at the same spot, just giving an overview of what we saw.
My Pieter is color blind but he's red/green disturbed and luckily the colors were mainly yellow and golden so he too could fully enjoy this!

Only 10 minutes later view of Bull Creek Valley

At 13:01 we view Black Mountain, North Carolina with the view of LANE PINNACLE where the elevation is 5230 feet (1594 m) and from where we stood 3890 feet (1186 m) at MP 372.1
It was named for Charles Lane, who owned the land in the early 1800s.
Such a golden 'autumn carpet'...

Here we are at Craggy Gardens near Barnardsville, North Carolina at 13:20 and MP 364.2
You fail to drink it all in!

MP 364 Craggy Gardens
Nature's garden flourishes on these high slopes. Rhododendrons blanket the mountains in pink in early summer. Wildflowers bloom along hiking trails.
Incredible views all the time and no doubt in May those Rhododendrons make a fabulous color show!

Pisgah National Forest, Burnsville, North Carolina at 13:54 with RIDGE JUNCTION OVERLOOK elevation 5160 feet (1573 m) at MP 355.3

A view of the Black Mountains and into South Toe Valley...

Pisgah National Forest, Burnsville, North Carolina at 14:05 at GREEN KNOB OVERLOOK elevation 4760 feet (1451 m) at MP 350.4 with on the left Mount Mitchell 6684 ft or 2037 m (highest point east of the Mississippi River) see map below

Pisgah National Forest near Burnsville, North Carolina just to give you an idea of how this Blue Ridge Parkway looked with its golden fall colors.
We also got to see deer, both does and a buck with antlers.
And a group of wild turkeys paraded in front of us, crossing 'their' territory!

In order to make some progress we had to quit stopping at every overlook...
This is Blue Ridge Parkway at Linn Cove Viaduct from boulder viewpoint just click and click through

MP 304 Linn Cove Viaduct
Looming above the viaduct, Grandfather Mountain is home to more rare plant and animal species than any mountain east of the Rockies.
The viaduct was engineered to protect this beautiful but fragile area.
Stop at the visitor center to learn how this engineering marvel was built.

With Pieter's heart condition there was no hiking involved, we only walked a short trail near the Craggy Gardens overlook.
You can spend weeks on end here if you are in for hiking and visiting more!

We did see lots of motorcycles on the Blue Ridge Parkway and on the narrow road, that must be an excellent way for traveling.
Riding The Blue Ridge Parkway just click and click through...

My short Relive video: The Blue Ridge Parkway's Visitor Center's address on the website was not accurate so I had to make a detour in order to get to Entering Blue Ridge Parkway

Total of 684.9 km or 425.6 mi for the entire day.
Starting out from our Log Cabin in Tennessee on Highway and also Interstate, hence the high(er) speed!
You find the first photo from Entering Blue Ridge Parkway. Last section is also not on Blue Ridge but we went to our Hyatt Place in Roanoke, Virginia for the night.
Relive is doing the same as most  pre-set GPS systems in cars; not showing true compass direction 🧭
We traveled all day to the north and NOT to the south!

Correct Address for GPS: Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center near Asheville, N.C.
Time in previous image includes also the non-driving time with all stops for gas. visiting the Blue Ridge Parkway's Visitor Center for maps and brochures, lunch stop etc.
At one overlook stop I made a wrong turn also... it is very hard to stay focussed on this route as the Mile Posts are hardly noticeable and there is NO other sign! Would be great if each parking at an overlook had at least North and South signs... At least there were plenty of Restrooms!

Stay tuned for the next part.

Wishing those in the Far East and Down Under a Happy New Year coming their way soon!
Good Health for ALL 

Related link:
Our 2nd Cabin Stay at the Hill on Cherokee Lake | previous post by me
SO Proud of my NONAGENARIAN | previous post by me
Our Cabin Stay at The Hill by Cherokee Lake in Tennessee | previous post by me